In a high profile visit to China last month, Gordon Brown spoke about the need for Britain to nurture its high growth sectors, such as the creative industries, if Britain is to continue to be a relevant player in the world economic sweepstakes.

Delivering the keynote speech in his capacity as the Finance Minister of Britain and Chairman of the International Monetary and Finance Committee, Gordon Brown endorsed China's increasingly important role as a stabilising force in the world economy. He said the tendency amongst some policymakers to view the rise of China and the next stage of globalisation as simply an economic threat to the advanced industrial economies was a 'sterile attempt to stop the clock'.Britain should see the rise of China and the new stage of globalisation not as a threat but as an opportunity.

Brown went on to say that globalisation is not a zero sum game where one country or continent will only succeed at the expense of another. But if Britain is to make the most of the opportunities that arise from global economic change, wide deep and extensive structural economic reform will be essential. To be winners, the British must push forward with new policies to become world leaders in science, technology and creative industries. Britain needs to celebrate and not constrain scientific exploration and discovery, to nurture the new creative industries, to continuously innovate in new financial products and services and to create a skilled and adaptable workforce in a Britain of ambition and aspiration where there is no cap on potential and no ceiling on talent.